When students enter our classrooms reading well below grade level, we high school English teachers can occasionally be at a loss for words.
How can I help a high school student read at an elementary level, when I haven’t been trained in teaching reading?” I recall asking my mentor teacher.
I had to learn, and I had to learn quickly, because I worked at a school with a lot of poor readers.
These seven active reading strategies will improve your pupils’ reading skills and possibly inspire a true love of reading in them!
1.Reading Strategy: Go Over
Despite being one of the most neglected tactics, this one is crucial. Due to their busy schedules, students may not have been thinking about our class novel or their independent reading choice all day.
In order for your pupils to approach the book prepared and aware of the subtleties that can be lost in the days between readings, assist them in reviewing what they have already read.
2.Reading Strategy: Forecast
Asking pupils to make predictions as they read is another technique to help them transition from passive to active reading. Although it may seem straightforward, making predictions requires students to sort through and understand a variety of textual elements, including background information and character development.
After making a prediction, students actively read further because they want to verify their guess, understand why the character acted in a particular manner, or understand why their predictions didn’t come to pass.
3. Reading Strategy: Picture
We can clearly see the symbolism behind Fitzgerad’s description of the Valley of Ashes, Lee’s description of Boo Radley’s House, and Steinbeck’s description of the turtle crossing the road. Authors frequently intentionally employ lengthy descriptions, usually to discuss a more symbolic larger idea.
Teachers are aware of this, but because there isn’t any “action,” readers with less expertise frequently find these descriptions to be “boring” or unnecessary. One of the best ways to assist students grasp the deeper meaning of these types of descriptions is to teach them to slow down and pay closer attention to the details.
4.Reading Strategy: Inquire
Encourage students to ask questions as they read—not the kind of questions that are only found in the text on reading exams or comprehension worksheets, but rather the kind of questions that leave you pondering with no obvious solution.
I refer to these as “wonder questions” with my kids. We inquire as to the thoughts and motivations behind the behaviors of the characters. We inquire as to why writers use a particular term or provide a particular feature in a particular manner.
With each wonder question, it is important that students try to answer the question. They must imagine themselves as the author or reader, and they must read on to see if they will ever discover the solution.
5. Reading Strategy: Establish a Connection
Students should be asked to make connections between the material they are reading and other texts they have read, experiences they have had, or their own lives and backgrounds.
Students become more engaged as a result of these linkages, which enable them to relate to characters and tales more deeply.
6. Reading Strategy: Deduce
Teaching inference can be difficult, but it is crucial, particularly when it comes to the increasingly difficult texts that students will encounter as they advance through the grades.
In order to convey this idea, I frequently ask students whether they have ever had a friend tell them they are “fine” when in fact they are not. I even pretend to do so by standing with my arms crossed and shifting my weight to one leg while spitting the word “fine.”
We discuss how that moment is very different from the friend saying, “Thanks for asking,” and how we know the person is surely not okay. Right now, I’m feeling somewhat depressed and angry because
I ask them to draw conclusions during whole class readings, and I always want to make sure to let them know that we’re drawing conclusions so they can see how helpful the skill is and how it’s being used.
7. Reading Strategy: Simplify
Lastly, one of the most effective ways to encourage students to interact with the material is to educate them to summarize what they have read into a brief “gist.” They must condense numerous pages with numerous characters, exchanges, and facts into a single, crucial main concept.
In contrast to paraphrase, summarizing, and retelling, condensing requires pupils to distill what they have read into a single line. When practicing this skill, we frequently follow a who, what, where, why, and how format (after which we experiment with rearranging the sentences as an enjoyable approach to use language in context!).
Do you want to put these reading strategies into practice but are unsure how?
Children’s literature is how I like to introduce these tactics the most. Yes, I am aware that we are high school teachers. However, even high school students like the nostalgic feeling of circling on the floor as I read a children’s picture book to them. We return after I’ve finished reading, and I help them apply active reading techniques. Because children’s literature is often very clever and full of entertaining elements that are easy to overlook the first time, employing active reading skills is a great approach to showing pupils how effective they can be!
I also enjoy using individual reading to apply active reading skills. For the first five to ten minutes of class, students read a book of their choosing. At the conclusion of each reading session, they select a method to employ when filling up their reading log.
In the fall, are you looking for an engaging way to teach active reading strategies?
Using the active reading techniques, try reading a scary short story like Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” or his well-known poem “Annabel Lee.”
Or, once the school year begins, think about introducing your kids to the power of a Growth Mindset through active reading practices!
Are you interested in learning more about effective reading practices for secondary schools?
Take a look at our blog post: 5 Teacher-Tested Reading Techniques You Could Use Right Now.
Which of these tactics do you now instruct? How YOU instruct them in your classes would be fascinating to hear!